A man has been arrested in connection with an armed raid at a Wirral store that saw two heroic shopkeepers fight back with an umbrella and a lottery sign.

A 38-year-old from Birkenhead is being quizzed by officers on suspicion of robbery following the incident at Bebington Convenience Store on Old Chester Road, Bebington, at around 7.30pm on Sunday night.

He is also being held in connection with two other burglaries.

The first took place at Victoria Kebab House, Bebington Road, Birkenhead on Wednesday, August 20, when a man was said to have entered the takeaway carrying a hammer before forcing his way behind the counter, before being fended off by staff and fleeing empty-handed.

The second burglary was reported by staff at the Five Bars Rest pub on Borough Road, Seacombe, who called police to say there had been a break-in during the early hours of Thursday August 21, with cash from a fruit machine stolen overnight.

Earlier this week, Vinayagamoorthy Sivarasa and his wife Indra, who run Bebington Convenience Store, told how a man had walked into the store before pulling a knife from his jacket and demanding cash.

After they refused, the robber leapt over the counter and began trying to force the till open with a six-inch long kitchen knife.

But as he struggled to open the drawer, the brave couple took matters in their own hands, taking turns to swing an umbrella and then a metal-bottomed lottery sign at the raider, before he managed to get into the till and flee with fistfuls of cash down Highfield South.

Mrs Sivarasa, who said their only thoughts were for their young children, told the ECHO: “It wasn’t brave, we were just doing what we had to.”

A police spokesman said that enquiries into all three incidents are continuing.

Anyone with information can call detectives in Wirral CID on 0151 777 2265 or Crimestoppers, on 0800 555 111.